Exodus 16
Bread from Heaven, Gathered New Each Morning
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The Lord Provides Bread
16:1They journeyed from Elim, and the whole congregation of the sons of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after leaving the land of Egypt.
16:2The whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron.
16:3The sons of Israel said to them, “If only we had died, struck by the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate our fill of bread! You have brought us into this wilderness to kill this whole congregation with hunger.”
16:4The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am raining bread from heaven for you. The people shall go out and gather each day’s portion, so that I may test whether they will walk in My law or not.
16:5“On the sixth day they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice what they gather each day.”
16:6Moses and Aaron said to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, “In the evening you shall know that the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt,
16:7“and in the morning you shall see the Lord’s glory, when He hears your grumbling against God. What are we, that you grumble against us?”
The Lord Provides Meat
16:8Moses said, “This will happen when the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and bread to satisfy you in the morning, because the Lord has heard your grumbling against us. What are we? Your grumbling is against God, not against us.”
16:9Moses said to Aaron, “Tell the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, ‘Come near before God, for He has heard your grumbling.’”
16:10As Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the sons of Israel, they turned toward the wilderness, and the Lord’s glory appeared in a cloud.
16:11The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
16:12“I have heard the sons of Israel’s grumbling. Tell them: Toward evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread. You shall know that I am the Lord your God.”
16:13Evening came, and quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning, as the dew around the camp was subsiding,
16:14there on the wilderness surface was something fine, like white coriander, like frost on the ground.
16:15When the sons of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is this?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.
16:16“This is what the Lord commanded: Gather from it, each for those belonging to him, an omer per person according to your number. Each shall gather with your tent companions.”
16:17The sons of Israel did so and gathered, some much and some little.
16:18They measured it by the omer. The one with much had no excess, and the one with little had no lack. Each gathered for those belonging to his household.
16:19Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it until morning.”
16:20They did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it until morning, and it swarmed with worms and stank. Moses was embittered against them.
16:21They gathered it morning by morning, each what he needed. When the sun grew hot, it melted.
The Sabbath Observed
16:22On the sixth day they gathered twice what was needed, two omers per person. All the congregation’s leaders came in and reported it to Moses.
16:23Moses said to them, “This is the word the Lord spoke: Tomorrow is a Sabbath, a holy rest to the Lord. Bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil. Set aside all that remains to keep until morning.”
16:24They left some of it until morning, as Moses instructed them. It did not stink, and no worm was in it.
16:25Moses said, “Eat today, for today is a Sabbath to the Lord. It will not be found in the field.
16:26“You shall gather for six days, but the seventh day is a Sabbath; there will be none on it.”
16:27On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.
16:28The Lord said to Moses, “How long will you be unwilling to heed My commandments and My law?
16:29“See, the Lord has given you this day, the Sabbath. Therefore on the sixth day He gave you bread for two days. Each of you shall stay in your houses; no one shall go out from his place on the seventh day.”
16:30The people kept Sabbath on the seventh day.
16:31The sons of Israel called it Man. It was like coriander seed, white, and tasted like a cake with honey.
16:32Moses said, “This is what the Lord commanded: Fill an omer with manna to keep throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread you ate in the wilderness when the Lord brought you out of the land of Egypt.”
16:33Moses said to Aaron, “Take one golden jar, put an omerful of manna in it, and set it before God to keep throughout your generations.”
16:34As the Lord instructed Moses, Aaron set it before the Testimony to keep.
16:35The sons of Israel ate manna for forty years, until they came to the inhabited land. They ate manna until they reached the region of Phoenicia.
16:36An omer was one-tenth of the three measures.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.